F1 News
Chasing Mercedes good for Red Bull? 'They have time for the next step'
- GPblog.com
The 2021 season looks set to be the one where Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will battle it out for the championship. The reigning World Champion has been driving the dominant car since 2014, but seems to be trailing Verstappen and Red Bull Racing this year.
At Auto, Motor und Sport they see that Mercedes now need to start working especially hard to catch up, but that Red Bull can actually start building the lead as a result. "There's no doubt that Mercedes are going to solve the problems they have, but that gives Red Bull time to take the next step," analyzes journalist Michael Schmidt.
Weakness of Honda converted
"Red Bull is also the team that is often better in the second part ofthe season."
A big move by Red Bull in the winter, has to do with the developments of Honda in their last year of F1. "They are switching to battery charging later. As a result, they have longer electrical power."
"That's an advantage now, but was actually their biggest disadvantage last year." According to Schmidt, the gap in performance between the two constructors is now clear to both teams. "Compared to the ideal times they can drive, the gap is now more than two tenths. That's the gap both teams currently see as realistic," the German journalist said.